Betrayed By Birth
by Anya Maygo
Summary: Okay, trying again with this fic. This technically takes place somewhere between Season 3 and Season 4...and it doesn't include Jaden. It's another character from Chaotia (see Anya's Adventures) who's trying to find her place! *This is rated T for now, maybe it'll get dumbed down as I write.*
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

KAIBA CORP

Kisara

I stepped into the room I'd sensed Seto's presence in.

"Hello, Sara."

Sara: his new pet name for me, since he didn't want to call me "Anya" like everyone else. I liked it, or I'd have made him stop.

"What are you doing up, Seto? Your work hours were over an hour ago."

"Working out the last few kinks in a duel academy I'm designing."

"Oh." I leaned over his shoulder, letting my hands slide onto his chest, looking at the screen. His system was pretty well set up, complete with a color separation chart. "I thought you'd gotten over your frustration about Yugi always being better than you."

"I have!"

"Really?" I pointed at the screen. "Obelisk Blue is the highest of the dueling levels, and Slifer Red is the lowest? That looks like favoritism to me."

He laughed a little. "You know how I like being the best."

I laughed, too. "Well, yeah, but…couldn't Slifer Red be the second-best?" I wasn't arguing very hard, because I really didn't care, and Seto could sense it. "But seriously, I'd like it if you added a hidden dorm." I held out my hand over the keyboard, focused…

A diagram of a house appeared on the screen, filled out, and got named.

Seto read it. "Blue-Eyes White?"

"Yes. Now that magic's worked its way into this world, more people will end up with magic powers. And quite frankly, duelists are ten times more likely to end up with powers than non-duelists. It won't affect your system; in fact, it probably won't even affect the students' dueling classes. I will end up teaching classes in that dorm, because I'm currently the only one who could 'cover all the bases' for what powers could appear."

"Well," he gestured at the screen, "that's true. I've never seen you do that."

"Tech manipulation? It's new; I only discovered that one when Mokuba asked me to help him with something. But anyway, what do you think?"

He laughed softly. "Well, if that's what you want…" He punched a key.

My diagram glided into the back of the picture and set itself on the island, and then saved, with a statue appearing over the little house: a large white bird, with a white dragon circling around it companionably.

"…Then that's what you're going to get, my Blue-Eyes."

Highest compliment; what could I do except kiss him?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

KAIBA MANSION; ABOUT 10 YEARS LATER

Kisara

Seto and Yugi together had helped me build a Duel Monster deck some time ago, and I was dueling Seto in the living room – just a duel on the coffee table, the Duel Discs I'd deemed too complicated for a casual evening – and I was winning. I was suspecting Seto of letting me win, because even after ten years of being taught by the best, I still wasn't that good. I didn't mind.

He had about a thousand life points, I had fifteen hundred, and suddenly my train of thought was interrupted by a loud bang, a thump, a loud "Oof!" and a sudden influx into my mind of the sense that someone was _there_.

And not just any someone, but someone I never expected to sense ever again once I left Chaotia.

I straightened up and stared past Seto. The sofa behind him had tipped over backwards. "Max?!"

A casual tenor voice answered me. "Hey, sis." Then the sofa righted itself.

Sprawled out on the sofa, dressed in the brown casual wear of Chaotia, was my brother. Aside from the fact that he covered the whole sofa now, he was exactly the way I remembered him: velvety black skin, shaggy black hair that reached to his shoulders, and sparkling red eyes.

By the time he'd righted the sofa, I'd figured out what I was going to say to him. I stood up and walked around the coffee table while Seto watched me. "You have a lot of nerve showing up here," I began, kinetically grabbing the front of his shirt and setting him onto his feet.

He grinned at me, his teeth flashing white in their black background, like he was trying to charm his way out of trouble.

Then I added, "…After what you pulled." Honestly, he probably _had_ pulled something to get here from where he'd been.

His smile vanished, his eyes got big, and he pointed at himself.

We just stood there, arm's length away from each other, looking at each other. I was trying to look stern, and he was just starting to think that maybe I really was mad at him.

Then I couldn't take it any longer – I got him in a headlock and messed up his hair, laughing. "How are you doing, you crazy black puppy?"

Laughing just as hard, he heaved himself to one side, sprawling both of us on the floor with him on top. "What were you thinking, leaving the dimension without telling me, you blue-eyed demon?"

I pinned him to the ceiling with my mind. "I was thinking of hiding from suitors, you useless bodyguard!" I teased.

He pretended that his gravity had been reversed and put his hands behind his head, hooking one leg over the other. "Oh, speaking of," he answered sarcastically, "thanks for inviting me to your wedding."

It didn't surprise me that he knew; either it was a lucky guess, or he sensed it when I got him in that headlock.

"You were busy in solitary confinement." I threw him onto the sofa again.

"Sara?" Seto asked me slowly as he stood up. "Who is that clown?"

I stood up again and gestured dramatically. "Seto, this is Maximar Maygo – my twin brother."

My husband stared at my brother, who just went even more casual than before. "He doesn't look it."

Max shrugged. "Funny, everyone says that. I don't get it." He was kidding.

I walked over to Seto and looked back at Max. "Maximar, this is Seto Kaiba…" I looped my arms around Seto's neck and finished, "the love of my life, founder of Duel Academy, and head of a game company."

He sat up and cocked an eyebrow, smirking. At least…I think that was the expression he was making – his eyebrows were almost the same shade as his skin. "In that order?"

I made a face at him. "Game company was first, then me, then the academy."

"Ah, I see."

I sincerely doubted he did, but I went with it because frankly, his appearance was quite timely. After about ten years of Duel Academy, the classes were getting bigger, and I was starting to get worn out. And besides…

Mokuba came in, giving Safira a piggyback ride. He stopped when he saw us.

"Max, this is my brother-in-law Mokuba and my daughter Safira. Mokuba, Safira, this is my brother Maximar."

"You're kidding!" Max exclaimed as he scooped the little brown-haired seven-year-old from Mokuba's back. "I'm an uncle?" I think he was genuinely surprised.

"You sure are," I plucked the girl from his hands kinetically so that he could shake hands with Mokuba. "And therein lies why I'm actually relieved to see you."

"Oh?"

"It's like this…" Then I broadcast my problem to the whole room, letting everyone hear what I was saying in concepts to my brother. "_**Duel Academy also has a hidden dorm that teaches psychic powers, since duelists are far more likely to develop powers here than anyone else. I'm the only teacher in that dorm, but what with having a daughter who's only in the second grade and another child on the way,**_" I felt Max's astonishment and ignored it, "_**I'll be hard-pressed to continue teaching easily. I'll need someone to take over for me. And that someone is you, Maximar.**_"

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

He gave me a sweeping bow. "Why, I'd be honored, my lady!"

I rolled my eyes. "Just promise me one thing?"

Max straightened up and his red eyes met my blue ones.

"Don't _try_ to charm the female students."

He flashed me another grin. "Okay, okay, I won't."

Seto walked over to him and held out a hand. "Fine, then: you're hired."

Well, at least my brother shook hands with him. Considering what I remembered about my brother, that was progress.

"Oh, but by the way," Seto turned to look at me again, "what did you mean by solitary confinement?" His attention returned to Max. "Are you a criminal?"

Max…cocked an eyebrow at him, tilting his head. (Had to look closer.) "Actually, no. The trouble is…um…" He spun to look at me. "Kisara, I need your help just as much as you need mine."

I stared at him. Maximar was actually _admitting_ that he needed my help? I told Seto, "Max was in solitary confinement because he's a curse carrier. The Maygo bloodline has a curse that's ultimately called the Wolfshadow. As a general rule it only follows the males, which is why I wasn't being watched, but…"

"But that's why he was in solitary."

I nodded.

"Well, that's all well and good, but what's that got to do with now?"

"If I'm right…" I glanced at Max, "…then the curse is probably close enough to manifesting that the carrier can tell."

To answer, Max pulled up his left sleeve. There was an image, blazed on his forearm in red, of a canine head baring long fangs.

"I've never been good at summoning up a solution to a problem, even – or maybe especially – a problem specifically concerning myself. But you…you found a way around your destiny! Can you help me?"

I studied the mark, remembering what I'd learned about this curse. Then I kinetically summoned up a calendar that had the school's important days marked on it and studied both at once. "Judging by the signature…I'd say that the curse will ultimately blow around Duel Academy's final exams this year."

"So what can we do about it?"

I straightened up. "Simple: I'll meditate." Then I walked off, leaving my husband and my brother standing in the middle of the room.

* * *

I went back to my room, got out a pen and a pad of paper, sat down and started meditating. _In order to properly remove this curse, I need some students placed in the academy who can actually counter this, because I can't: removing curses just isn't my forte. I _can_ remove curses_,_ but the odds of the bearer surviving aren't all that good to begin with, and my powers are actually kind of in flux because of my pregnancy._ Then something slammed home to me – a vision of what was actually needed to remove the curse: _**a legendary duelist who had lived a lie and only after death learned the truth, and a Chaotian who had been betrayed by their own birth.**_ I felt the pen start moving of its own accord as that vision channeled through my powers.

When the pen fell over, I opened my eyes. Two sheets of paper had been torn from the pad, each with a drawing. On one page was a male, probably around his teens and dressed like royalty, probably someone just after Atem's time. On the other was a girl, also in her teens, who…

Suddenly, "betrayed by her own birth" made perfect sense.

_I'll bring her first: she's the simplest, though I'll have to give her to Pegasus so that she can get her own deck together. The boy will require a certain amount of technically-forbidden magic._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

CHAOTIA

**Verity**

I was bored. That was all there was to it. Nothing was happening here.

Of course, that means that I was going to run into trouble eventually, being a half-breed psychic orphan. Nobody trusted me.

Suddenly, the world started spinning!

When I opened my eyes again, nothing was the same – I was in a room with lots of finery, and there was barely any aura of magic anywhere!

_Okay…where am I?_

Then I noticed I was on the floor…and someone else was in the room.

"Hello, Verity."

I startled into a crouch. I couldn't help it; see, what made me a half-breed was that my father was a fox-demon. I got a great deal from him: eyes, ears, teeth, fur, claws and tail…plus a few reflexes.

Although once I was on all fours and looking at the person, I wasn't surprised that she knew my name. "Kisara?"

"Sorry about your sudden change in location, but I need you here on Earth. See…at the risk of sounding cliché, the universe is in trouble, and you're one of the few – no, one of the only – who can save it."

My ears pointed downward nearly of their own accord. "Me?"

"I know this is overwhelming for you. If I _could_ handle things on my own, I _would_, but…I have some slight difficulties right now and more on the way that interfere with saving the world." She sighed. "The problem is a curse inside a teacher at a Duel Academy – no," she stopped me before I could protest about duels, "these duels are with cards. That doesn't make them any less dangerous, though, because even though it's a game there is still a great deal of magic laced throughout. I need to get you enrolled in the school so that you can keep watch on things and learn what you can before the curse manifests in a way that can be defeated."

I twitched my nose. "Lady Kisara, there's something you're not mentioning." I don't know how I knew that; maybe there was something in the exact way she smelled, maybe it was something in her voice.

She sighed again. "The teacher in question is my brother."

I stared. I couldn't remember ever hearing that Kisara Maygo _had_ a brother!

Kisara shook her head. "It's Kisara Kaiba now, and Maximar isn't common knowledge anyway. He was locked up in solitary confinement when he was ten, and I'm relatively sure he had to live through me to stay sane. He's my twin, but the only true resemblance between us is that we're both tall, slender and have the same facial structure. He's just about as drastically different from any world as you are."

Oh.

"I'm going to take you to see a friend of mine. He's going to help you get a deck together so that you can properly study." She stood up, motioning for me to do the same, and started for a door. "First, though, we need to get you some Earth clothing and a Duel Disc."

Duel Disc? "Um…no shoes – my feet can't handle shoes. It's my toe claws, you see, and my feet are tough enough anyway..."

* * *

Kisara didn't give me any shoes. Instead I was fitted out with jeans – which needed some tailoring to allow for my tail – a blue shirt – with short sleeves that left me uncomfortably aware of the fur on top of my arms – and a chunk of metal on my right arm that Kisara told me was a Duel Disc. "People set cards on these devices and if it's a monster, then the creature appears in front of them. It's just an illusion…normally."

"Normally?"

"If enough magic is charged through the card, the monster becomes real. At any rate, the illusions are real enough to where when they do battle, they can generate real wind." She pushed something on the Disc and it opened up into almost more of a wing! Then she started pointing to specific places and continuing with her instruction, sending more basics into my mind. "When dueling, you set monsters on top of the disc face up: straight up and down for attack mode and sideways for defense mode. Spells and traps go in these slots below the monster card zones, and activating them involves pushing these buttons. And this," she pushed a button and made an extra slot open up, "is your field spell zone. This puts out an illusion that changes the look of the entire room or the whole area you're dueling in. This spot right over your wrist is where your deck is stored, where you see your life point count," I sensed she meant that only a certain number of points were allowed in the game and dropping to zero was game over, "and your card graveyard. Once you've used a card, you send it in there for the remainder of the game, unless you use a card that can let you choose cards from your graveyard."

I was starting to catch on. "That's where destroyed monsters go, too, right?"

"Right – destroyed or sacrificed monsters go to the graveyard as well."

Then she got me into a machine – a helicopter, she told me – and we set off to a new location. "Normally I'd teleport," she confided, and I could see the spark of near-mischief that she'd had when she was near my age, "but Pegasus says that I interfere with his business when I show up without warning. He knows I'm coming with a new duelist, so there's no problem there."

"Pegasus?"

"Maximillian Pegasus, discoverer of the Duel Monsters card game as it was centuries ago and creator of the card game as it is today." Then Kisara whispered into my big pointed ear, "Don't tell him I called him that: it'll make him insufferable."

I couldn't help it – I giggled.

The helicopter landed on top of one of the tall buildings, and I saw out the window that someone was standing there waiting for us. He was wearing a suit, but he was probably only about my age and bore strong resemblance to a koala without actually having fur. Surely _this_ couldn't be –

"Chumley!" Kisara was out first, with me following right after. "Is Pegasus here?"

"Yeah, he's here. He's getting a room set up filled with cards for the…new duelist…to choose from." He kept stealing glances at me. I hid my left arm behind my back, dropped my ears and tail, and tried for a smile that didn't show teeth.

"All right, lead us to him!"

* * *

We went down a couple of floors and found ourselves in a room filled with cards all laid out face down on tables. And just finishing the arrangement was a tall man with long white hair.

He turned as we entered. "Why, Kisara darling! I was wondering when you'd get here!"

She rolled her eyes with a smile. Apparently, he was always like this. "Pegasus, Verity; Verity, Pegasus. I'll wait outside." And that was her exit, leaving me standing there feeling abnormal.

For about a minute, we just stood there looking at each other. It wasn't long before I dropped my own gaze, staring at my unusual feet instead. I did note that he wore his hair hanging over his left eye, completely hiding it.

**Pegasus**

I must admit, I wasn't sure what Kisara hoped to get out of this girl. Still, I sized her up.

Setting aside the clothes, which Kisara had clearly picked out while trying to remember what young people normally wore around here, I took note of her differences.

For starters, her feet; she wasn't wearing any type of shoe, and for good reason, as her claw-like toenails and furry uppers would make them rather uncomfortable for her. Her ankles were also furry, and I had no reason to doubt that her fur extended farther up her legs than that.

And her tail bore a strong resemblance to a fox's tail, possibly a little sleeker than that, and constantly in slow motion back and forth like a pendulum.

Her hands had claw fingernails that matched those on her feet, and the backs of her hands were slightly furry, but the majority of her fur in that area was on the backs of her arms.

As for her ears…they were tilted down and back, a typical animal's gesture of fear or possibly sadness. A careful probe told me that she was positive I thought she was a freak, since she got that reaction from everyone back at home. Personally, though I didn't share the opinion, I could see why; especially when one wasn't truly expecting a person's ears to have a base that spanned the distance between eyebrow and nose, very fine fur and a sharply-pointed reach that was probably almost the same length as her hand.

She did have a pretty face, though. Again, one would be surprised about her golden eyes, but I saw no reason to hold any of her appearance against her.

All of this I noted in a single minute, and then I extended my hand to her. "Well, I'm sure this is all very confusing for you, darling Verity, but I know you can manage to adjust."

Her ears came up as she lifted her head again to look at me, disbelief running across her face.

"Oh, come on now, I've seen far worse creatures that looked far more human than you do. I have no problems with holding your hand."

After a moment's hesitation, she took my hand and I started leading her around the room. "Now, the way this is going to work is, you are not going to choose these cards: the cards will choose you. Whatever cards call out to you, those are going to be your deck. When you find a card, flip it over and keep going. A deck is forty cards."

Almost as soon as I said "call," Verity's ears twitched. Then she closed her eyes, slowed almost to a stop, and continued twitching her ears.

I released her hand and watched her as she walked around the room on her own, her ears twitching and holding her left hand over the tables. Just as I was starting to wonder if she was going to touch _any_ of them…

…Her hand dropped and flipped over a card.

As she continued on, I approached and took a look at which card had called to her.

_Yokaivulpes. That is a tricky card to use…_ I watched her more closely as she flipped over other cards, instead using my probing to see what she was choosing. _Gold Fox of the Desert, Scarlet Fox, Vixen of the Hunt…Somehow I get the feeling that she's not going to be too happy with what's calling to her._

Then she flipped card number forty and opened her eyes. "What did I pick?"

I wandered around the room collecting the cards and briefly wishing I had kinesis. "Nearly every monster that chose you was a fox card."

"What?" She sounded somewhere between indignant and despairing.

_I figured as much. She despises herself, and these cards will serve as a reminder of how she's different._ "Verity, darling…do you think I chose my Toon cards? Or that Kisara chose to have nearly all Light-type monsters? Whether you like them or not, these cards are meant for you. And when it comes down to it, since _they_ chose _you,_ they will be able to help you as you are learning how to duel." I extended the deck out to her.

**Verity**

I wasn't interested in where this was going. Still…

"Well…" I looked at the deck and sighed. "Okay…I guess I can get used to being a pack leader." And with that, I took the cards from Pegasus and shoved them into my Duel Disc. (Kisara told me she wasn't giving me a card holster until I had cards for them. I think that was a tiny lack of forethought, since I'd need the thing to carry the cards.)

"That's the spirit! Now good luck at Duel Academy!"

I grinned at him briefly as I turned to walk out the door again. _This is going to be a long term._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

**Verity**

Antsy wasn't even the word to describe how I felt for my first day at school. Kisara had granted me direct knowledge of how the symbols of Earth worked, as well as a most basic sense of how Duel Monsters worked, but I kept worrying anyway.

Mostly what had me worrying was wondering how everyone else would react to my appearance. Finally, I just snapped at myself, "Oh quit worrying already! The worst that any of these people can do is throwing insults at you, and _already_ that's a nice change from Chaotia!"

When I stepped out onto the arena to face off against the instructor, silence fell over the auditorium. I held Lady Kisara's words firmly in my mind:

"_The instructor will insult you, as an attempt to rattle you and keep you from thinking straight. Keep this in mind, though: he doesn't mean any of it personally. Future opponents of yours, now, who are closer to your age, they _will_ mean any insults of theirs personally, and if you can't handle the instructor, how will you be able to handle them? This is the principle of why the instructors insult their opponents. One must be able to keep their minds on what they're doing and hold their strategies firmly in place, no matter what their foe says. Along with that…probably about half of your duels will be in front of an audience. Ignore the crowds; your opponent is the only human being that matters in a duel."_

_Right; that could prove difficult._

Still, Lady Kisara was sure I could handle things. I wasn't about to prove her wrong.

That thought didn't keep my ears from twitching backwards and down.

"All right, little puppy," the instructor declared as he activated his Duel Disc, "are you ready to be sent to the pound?"

I activated my own Duel Disc. "I don't even know what that means but bring it on!"

* * *

It honestly didn't take long before I was on the ropes. Down to about a thousand life points, and no monsters on the field, I was feeling hunted.

He, on the other hand, had one extremely powerful, three-thousand-attack-point monster on his field and I'd only managed to get one attack in, bringing him down to two thousand-ish.

I glared at my hand in frustration. _Okay, Verity, think…how do I get out of this?_

_**Why, by relying on your father's cunning of course, Pack-Leader!**_

I blinked. I'd heard that male voice plain as day in my head!

_**Second card on the left, Pack-Leader; I'll help you through this.**_

I looked closer. My second card on the left was…

_Fox of the Hunt?_

_**I know full well what it feels like to be hunted. Here, the most important thing is to not give up. Go on and draw, see what happens!**_

"Okay…I draw!" The creature I was looking at was something crossed between a fox and a bat.

_**Flying Fox! Excellent! Play it, Pack-Leader!**_

_It's awfully high-level for just summoning…_It was Level 5.

_**Its ability allows it to come straight to the field, as long as the opponent has a Level 7 or higher monster on their side.**_

I stole another look at the giant on his field. Well…it _was_ Level 7…

_**Attack Mode.**_

_WHAT?!_

_**Trust me.**_

"I summon the Flying Fox in Attack Mode! Thanks to its special ability, I can summon it directly to the field without a sacrifice, as long as you've got a Level 7 or higher monster on your field!" In Attack Mode, the Flying Fox looked kind of gangly, just crouched on all fours with its wings draped. Somehow I figured that Defense Mode looked like it was wrapped up in its wings. "Plus, it's got another special ability!" Guesswork, partially; Fox of the Hunt wouldn't have told me to play it in Attack Mode.

Then the Flying Fox bared vampire fangs, opened its mouth, and _screeched!_ Everyone in the auditorium yelped in something resembling pain, my own ears shot backwards, and my opponent's monster disappeared! _Warn me the next time you're going to do that, Flying Fox! Is it destroyed?_

_**No,**_ a different voice answered me, _**just sent ahead a turn. But in case you didn't notice, my attack points and his life points are identical…**_

_Okay, okay, I can take a hint._ "Your monster has been sent a turn into the future, which leaves your life points wide open. Flying Fox, attack!"

It took flight, launched towards him, and latched its teeth into his Duel Disc, draining his life points down to zero!

"Oh, and by the way," I added as he fell to his knees and Flying Fox disappeared, "I'm not a puppy: I'm a fox! Remember that!"

_**Well done, Pack-Leader.**_ That was the last I heard from Fox of the Hunt that day.

After an instant of silence, the whole auditorium burst into cheers! My ears couldn't seem to make up their minds what position they wanted to be in, while my tail tucked a bit with my embarrassment at the attention.

_Well…I'm in…now I'm just wondering who Lady Kisara plans to send me as my partner in saving the world._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

**Kisara**

"Okay, we met at this point in time…"

"Right, so in theory the oldest you can get this kid and still have him believable as _our_ son is about fourteen and a half, and even that's pushing it."

Seto and I were talking over how we were going to get the second of the curse-breakers back into existence. Abidos III had died thousands of years ago, and the magic I was going to use was…I'm sure if it occurred to anyone back on Chaotia that someone would try this, it would be forbidden. I was going to arrange for him to be my second child, with time sped up so that he would be of an age to be useful to us.

"Oh, Seto," I sat back and smiled seductively at him, "it wouldn't be pushing it if one assumed we'd slept together when we first met."

"Sara, you and I both know I didn't like you back then." He was blushing. I counted that as a victory.

"True…_you_ know that, and _I_ know that, and every other student of mine knows that…but does the rest of the world need to know that?"

He was quiet for a minute. I stayed quiet, too; I knew how to play the waiting game. Finally, he sighed. "Okay, so what's your story for our mysterious son who's older than Safiya only now appearing?"

I was ready for that, and I answered immediately. "We met, things got hot quickly, I used illusions and tech-tricking magic during the wedding so that it wasn't obvious that I was pregnant, and…I didn't get out much after the wedding, you remember? Our son was born practically right after the honeymoon, born prematurely, and you were worried about whether or not he'd live, so you kept it away from the press. And afterwards, when the child survived, you were embarrassed over the fact that we'd had such a close call over your lack of self-control…"

"Hah."

"…Or lack of resolve in keeping me off, whichever, that you kept him hidden for a while, with private tutors to educate him. And besides, you and I both know you hadn't received a good role model for how to be a father, so you needed time to think about how you were going to go about it."

I let him think about my story for a minute. Then I gave an extra push. "It's also why we don't have any picture records of his growing up."

Finally, he caved. "Fine: I don't see any holes in your fiction. Obviously though, Yugi won't buy it."

"I was already planning on telling Yugi the truth."

Then he took hold of my hands. "Kisara…my Blue-Eyes…if you go through with this, what will happen to you?"

I considered rolling my eyes. Making eye contact told me not to, though; he truly was worried about me. "Seto…this plan would be suicide if it wasn't for three specific points. One, you and I are both reincarnations of ancient Egyptians; two, I'm already pregnant; and three, I'm only just far enough along in the pregnancy that I can tell that we do indeed have a son, so I have free rein to change the rest of it to what is needed. I'll be fine."

In the silence that followed, where I knew he wasn't buying it, I finally admitted, "This will knock out my powers."

"For how long?"

"Um…at least a year. It's one of those spells that has odds of one's powers never returning."

His grip tightened. "You're potentially giving up your powers, something you've said a Chaotian would rather die than do, for your brother whom you've rarely set eyes on before now?"

"I'm potentially giving up my powers for the safety of the universe, Seto. You know this. Besides, the fact that I know my powers are coming back should reassure you. It's another point that hinges on the reincarnation detail."

After a moment longer, he sighed. "You never do give up, do you?"

Then I did the one thing that always won me any argument: physically kept either of us from talking.

When we ended the kiss, Seto muttered, "Drat you."

"I love you too, Seto. And I'm sorry, but once I start, I have to be alone."

He stood up. "I think I can arrange myself an equipment test, or find some paperwork or something."

I set a hand against his cheek as I stood up myself. "I'll be fine." Then we each went out our respective doors – him to wherever he was actually going, and me to my workroom.

Once I was there, I locked the door, turned off all the communications, and wrote a note to Abidos for when he woke up, because I wasn't laying any bets on being conscious at the same time. I was just glad I'd already explained the basic information to Safiya. She knew she was going to end up with an older brother, and she was fine with it. In fact, I sensed that she was more fine with an older brother than a younger brother.

* * *

I won't describe the workings of the spell, partly because it involved kinetically shifting the unborn embryo out of my body and setting the changes on it, along with the single restriction: not to grow beyond fourteen and a half years of age. Then I basically told the spell, and the embryo, to take the power it required from me to reach what I asked of it.

This wouldn't have worked very well, either, if not for Houou. She was also in the room, supplying me with extra strength. I really didn't need to remain conscious once the spell was over. Come to think of it, I didn't need to be conscious at all since I'd already programmed the spell to teach him the correct language, tweak his cells so that he was leaning heavily towards the Egyptian side without officially being Egyptian, and to stop the accelerated growth once he hit how he'd been at mid-teens.

I felt the drain almost immediately. I held onto consciousness just long enough to see my baby grow from barely-formed…to infant-sized…

I faded out around the time it hit Safiya's size, with a final prayer that all would go well.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

* * *

**Abidos**

Slowly, I opened my eyes.

I was in a strange room, the construction and decoration of which I was…not personally familiar with, yet knew the identity of.

And I was lying on the floor, a few feet away from a strange white-haired woman who was unconscious. A folded piece of paper was in her hand, just in my reach, with a single symbol on it: a cartouche, bearing my name.

I reached out my hand to take it and immediately noticed something else that was off about this moment in time: all I was wearing was my hair, which was unnaturally long. It left me feeling relieved that this woman was unconscious.

Speaking of which…

In a sudden burst of energy, I snatched the note from her hand, sat up and opened the note.

It read, not in hieroglyphics and yet I could still read it:

"_Abidos, I am the woman lying before you. My name is Kisara, and through an extremely complicated spell, I am your second mother."_

My mind hiccupped to a stop. _What?_ I had to take several deep breaths before I could continue reading.

"_I brought you back to life because the universe needs you, as well as another who is already informed. It is clear that you have a great many questions; I would if I had woken up suddenly with fourteen years worth of hair growth and not much else by way of clothing. I apologize for that, by the way, but it was all I could do to get you grown far enough to be useful."_

_Fourteen years? What?_

"_A full explanation will have to wait until I'm conscious, but I believe you can use the communications on the wall to call for clothes. The people here are enough used to my having powers to where they've learned not to be shocked by what they find in this room: my work room, by the way."_

I glanced at the walls. Finally, I spotted a patch of metal that didn't match the rest of the wall nearest what was probably the door.

"_The clothes you receive will be some of my brother's. They won't be what you're used to, and they'll be marginally too big, but they will do. When I wake up, I shall arrange for your haircut. And I'm sorry, but the main reason your haircut is waiting for my consciousness is because my husband – your second father – has requested that I take pictures of what you look like post-spell. I can promise you that these pictures will never surface to the public."_

I lifted a lock of my hair and studied it ruefully. _This will probably be funny a few months from now._

"_You will definitely be hungry, and the servants have been instructed to, just for today, bring food to whomever calls for clothing. It'll be simple fare, as an attempt to help you adjust better, and more than you should eat all at once, because I really have to eat when I wake up – great works of magic require that the body receive a great deal of sustenance afterwards. See you when I wake up, and save some of the coffee for me!"_

Just reading mention of food made my stomach growl. Carefully, I got to my feet – my first attempts at walking were staggered – and made it to the wall. Pushing the button, I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Um…I require some clothes."

* * *

After a few minutes, the door opened – not far, just a few inches – and a bundle of folded clothes came sliding in on the floor. "I'll bring in your meal tray when you're ready, sir," a strange voice – all I could make out was that it was male – told me.

While strange, I did rather like that "sir."

Again with that unusual blend of knowledge, I knew what all these clothes were, and I managed to get them all on properly. They looked rather like what I saw that boy Jaden wearing, though without the red jacket. As the note said they would be, the clothes were a little loose, but it was better than sitting around bare. "I'm ready."

The door opened again, and the man came in with a tray. He didn't bother staying, and he didn't truly react to either the lady on the floor or my…unusual hairdo; he just set the tray down, said "Here you are, sir," and left again.

"Simple," evidently, meant bread, some kind of soup, and water, with a pot of something hot that apparently was the coffee waiting for Kisara to wake up for it.

* * *

I was probably about half-done – I didn't recognize what was in the soup, but it wasn't bad – when she woke up at last. "Ow…" She rubbed her head. "I really should have worked that spell already lying down. It would have saved me some hurt." Then she turned to look at me with blue eyes. "You must be Abidos. I'm happy to finally meet you."

"I would say the same," I replied, pushing a slice of bread over to her, "except I'm not sure what's going on. Um…am I supposed to call you 'Mother'?"

She accepted the offer with a laugh. "That's only required if we're in public together. What happens in private is entirely your choice. As to what's going on…can I eat before I explain? I could ignore what my body needs while I explain, but it's not considered good practice."

I thought about it. And decided that as badly as I wanted to know, letting her finish was still a good idea. I nodded and scooted backwards on the floor, letting her have the tray and watching her eating as if she hadn't seen food in days.

* * *

**Kisara**

After a few minutes, I slowed down and took the time to study my son carefully. Since I was completely without my powers, I had to be more observant.

The clothes hung loosely off his still-skinny frame, but I felt I'd done well choosing to use Max's clothes, because Abidos' skin was dark enough to where he had to wear something pretty light for it to work out. His large blue eyes were studying me as intently as I was studying him. And then, of course, there was that unfortunate extra-long dark brown hair.

Finally, I told him about Maximar and the Wolfshadow curse. I also told him about how I'd seen who could help break the curse, and that I'd be sending him into Duel Academy as a transfer student since the year had already started. "What I'm still not sure I understand is why my sight told me that you were, and I quote, a legendary duelist who was living a lie and didn't find out until after death."

He lowered his head, looking somewhere between ashamed and sheepish. "I won every duel I went into, but that was just my servants letting me win. It was Jaden Yuki who helped me see that, only recently." Then his head snapped up again. "Will I see Jaden again?"

"Probably not: he's got his own things to do. Your partner is a girl." _Should I tell him about Verity? …Eventually. Not right now, though; he's still got to accept what has happened to him._

I straightened up and helped him to his feet. Then I rummaged around in a drawer until I came up with a camera. "Okay, let's get this picture over with so that I can call a hairstylist for you. Smile!"

He fussed a bit with his hair, getting a lock of it hanging down over one shoulder, and then he grinned at me. The grin was a little forced, but I didn't blame him.

When the picture was safely stored in computer memory banks, I called a hairstylist – technically Seto's, and the man was given enough money to where he wouldn't ask any questions about why he was cutting hair that was nearly long enough to sweep the floor.

* * *

Abidos chose a style that was apparently identical to the look he'd had thousands of years ago as a pharaoh. Understandable: he needed _some_ attempt to return to something resembling normal for him.

"You will need to meet your relatives and learn what your cover story is before we let you leave the building, so you'll end up being a transfer student into Duel Academy."

"I see."

I sighed. "This would be easier if I had my powers."

He turned and stared at me. "You don't have powers anymore?"

I shook my head. "Bringing you to life has knocked my powers out. I won't be able to do anything for…" I trailed off. "You know…I should have Max take a look at my energy readings and figure out how long they'll be gone."

* * *

**Abidos**

"Don't worry about it, sis."

I stared at my new uncle. His black skin, long hair and red eyes made him look like an evil spirit, but he was actually a rather nice man. Seto Kaiba was also in the room, holding my sister in his lap, and Mokuba was staring at me as if not sure what to make of me.

I wasn't sure what to think myself. Here I was, in a completely different time, as a teenager with a father, mother, sister and two uncles!

"The good news is, your powers aren't gone for good, and they won't even take all that long to come back!"

"How are you defining 'all that long,' Max?"

"That's the bad news: they won't be back for about…six months."

She closed her eyes as if expecting a headache. "Well…I can't say that I'm surprised."

"I'm sorry." It was all I could think to say. It was my fault that her powers were gone, after all.

She smiled at me. "Did I say that I blamed you?" She turned towards the others in the room and asked, "Did anyone hear me blame him for my powers being gone?"

Every adult shook their head with a smile on his face.

Kisara stood up, glided over to me, and set her hand on my shoulder. "I already accepted the risk of my powers fading for the sake of saving the universe. You just have to help make sure that my sacrifice wasn't in vain."

_**No pressure then.**_

I started, glancing past her at Max.

He was smirking, and he'd just rolled his eyes.

It hadn't occurred to me that it was even possible to be sarcastic with mental communication.

"Well…all right."

_This is going to be a long ordeal._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

* * *

**Verity**

I'd barely been at Duel Academy a week and I already felt like screaming. Or digging a hole and staying in it.

Every student here wanted to stop and stare at me, and none of them knew squat about shielding their thoughts. And since my own shielding was pretty much useless, and my telepathy control worse than that, I got to hear every dog-joke and every speculation about how far my fur spread under my clothes.

It gets old.

I did eventually dig a hole under the Slifer dorm…more like a den, actually. I just couldn't stand being around the stares anymore.

It was actually pretty roomy, more so than the room I'd been using in the building itself. It had some earth support beams and the ceiling wasn't exactly high enough for me to stand in, but I could get around just fine. A bed made out of blankets and a pillow, a closet made from a wooden box, and a desk made out of another wooden box, and my room was done.

The place didn't have any lights, and my 'doorway' wasn't exactly built for visitors, but I highly doubted that anyone would want to come visit me anyway.

* * *

Then a meeting was called in the main hall. According to Chancellor Shepherd, we had a transfer student. "I trust you'll all make him feel welcome. Everyone, meet Abidos Kaiba."

The boy who came out stepped onto the stage as if he owned it. And…I've _seen_ Seto Kaiba, as well as Kisara. If this guy was related to them, it was only barely: his skin was definitely darker. His hair and eyes matched Mister Kaiba's, though, besides the fact that he was wearing his hair right around shoulder-length.

Then he looked straight at me. And that was when I knew that he was to be my partner in breaking this curse.

* * *

**Abidos**

I held what Lady Kisara had said to me before I'd exited the helicopter firmly in mind:

"_I will only tell you one thing about your partner: you will know her when you see her."_

"Everyone, meet Abidos Kaiba."

_That's my cue._ I pulled all of my experience as a pharaoh to the fore and walked out with my head held high, studying the crowd of children my age.

Then my eyes landed squarely on one particular red-jacket girl. She was hard to miss…what with those large furry ears and amber eyes.

_Of course; what else would it be?_

**Verity**

I heard his thoughts as plainly as if he'd spoken aloud. He saw me as an unusual creature and wasn't sure how well we'd manage to work together.

I tried to keep my own thoughts rational. After all, we probably didn't look like a very good team on paper. But the notation still hurt, especially since this was the boy I was supposed to try and work with.

I turned and slowly started inching my way through the crowds again. I wasn't about to attempt to speak to him in this environment. Besides, I still needed to tend to the new slash he'd given my heart.

**Abidos**

As I watched, she turned – it didn't surprise me that she had a tail – and started weaving through the crowds, heading for the nearest exit. It left me wondering why her ears were drooping.

_**Oh, ah, Highness?**_

I jumped at the voice in my head. _Was that Maximar?_

_**It sure was. Kisara was awfully mean to your partner just now, sending you in there without at least telling you about her telepathy control, or rather her lack of it.**_

That brought me to a halt. _So…she can…_

_**You got it. Her ability to read minds is really good, and her shielding is erratic. Plus, mind reading becomes that much better with eye contact, which you did right as your own mind dropped its first thought about her.**_

_So…that means…oh, great._

_**Yeah…you just hurt her feelings. I guarantee you, though, that if you cross paths with her again, her lack of control will aid in your apology leaking over to her. I mean, obviously you can't apologize to her verbally, because technically as far as the majority of the school's concerned you weren't here long enough to **_**do**_** anything yet.**_

I sighed. This would be tricky. I had knowledge of how women in this time preferred to be treated, but I also had ancient Egyptian reflexes, and I wasn't sure how I could mix the two when they weren't exactly compatible.

_**You'll figure it out. You know, though, if I had to guess, I'd say my sister didn't think the girl's feelings would be hurt as badly as they just were. Wonder what criteria she had been using...**_ And then I was alone in my head again, without a clue what I was supposed to do.

As the auditorium cleared out, however, I spotted someone I remembered! Well, actually, I saw three people I remembered: a small boy with lots of blue hair, a taller boy with a black jacket and black hair, and…

I waved. It felt strange, but Jaden did this to call my attention to him way back then. "Alexis!"

I will be charitable and call it only mildly entertaining to watch her jump. Then she turned, stood and waited as I came down to her. Her expression was suspicious. I didn't blame her; there was no way I would have known her name when we hadn't been introduced. "Do I know you?"

"Actually, yes, after a fashion; you told me your name yourself, which is why I remember it. I had been raised from the dead to duel Jaden."

The little boy stepped back, his eyes getting even bigger. "Wait a minute…you're _Pharaoh Abidos the Third?!_"

Before I could answer, the black-jacket boy asked, rather snidely I might add, "Back for another round of trying to destroy the world?"

"Trying to save it, actually. Listen, could we go talk somewhere else? This gets complicated."

* * *

We went to the Slifer dorm. On the way there, I was properly introduced to Syrus and Chazz, along with being newly introduced to a large-muscled boy in a yellow jacket who was named Hassleberry and a young girl in a red jacket named Blair.

"Alrighty, Mister Pharaoh," he opened, "start talking. First off, if you went back to the afterlife or whatever after the Sarge beat you, what are you doing here?"

"If by 'sarge' you mean Jaden, then what you said is accurate. Lady Kisara…" I sighed. "I still have a hard time thinking of her as 'mother,' even though that's how she brought me back to life, along with a fair amount of magic."

Chazz interrupted me. "Why would she bother doing that?"

"I'm getting to that. Apparently there's a curse taking form that's threatening the entire universe, and when she sought answers, she discovered that two people working together could break the curse."

Syrus proved to be rather quick. "And you're one of them?"

"Yes."

Alexis suddenly got a look on her face that I couldn't read. "So…that girl with the large ears and the tail…"

"She's my partner, though I don't know her name." I rubbed at the back of my head. "Actually, I'm a little embarrassed right now: apparently, though I didn't learn of it until afterwards, she's a telepath with almost no control over that power, and she took my thoughts upon seeing her personally. I…have no experience with apologizing, especially not to a girl." That was a bit of a blow to my pride, but it was true. "One thing I learned, though, was that apparently Kisara had told me so little about my partner because she didn't think my first thought would cause as much pain as it did." Suddenly, I had a suspicion. "Has, ah, _anyone_ tried to make friends with her?"

Nobody in the room made eye contact with me. That was answer enough.

I sighed. "Did it occur to any of you that she would have a hard time approaching people because of her appearance? If she'd had any friends here before I came, she would have been braced better for my own first reaction, and we could start officially working on a solution sooner. Now, though, I have to make up with her before we can figure out the way to break the curse!"

"Okay, first of all," Alexis grabbed my shoulder, "stop complaining. Second, about the only time she can truly be cornered is at mealtimes. Third, her name's Verity." Then she noticed that everyone else in the room was staring at her. "What? I looked it up!"

"Verity…" That wasn't the first name I'd have guessed. "Does she have a last name?"

"If she does, it isn't on the website."

"And…not that finding her there would be particularly appropriate for me, but where's her room?"

"It _was_ across from mine," Blair piped up.

"Was?"

"She hasn't been in it for over a week, and all her stuff was cleared out. I don't know where she's staying now."

Alexis let go of my shoulder. I sat down and tried to think. _Unknown sleeping arrangements, mealtimes the easiest time to corner her…_

"Plus, nobody sits anywhere near her during classes…or anytime, really, although I get the feeling that mealtimes that's a personal choice."

Syrus sighed. "If Jaden were here, he'd make the first move. He'd walk right up to her and say, 'hey what's up? Say, you've got,' um…" he sat back, stumped. "I'm not sure…maybe something about how sweet her ears are?"

I thought for a minute. Then out of the corner of my eye I noticed a low shadow in the doorway. We hadn't closed the door because we knew we'd hear someone coming, but I hadn't heard a thing. But considering the shadow had a large pointed ear, I wasn't too surprised. _Eavesdropping, Verity? …Just as well._

Not giving myself much time to think, I stated, "It would be easier on me, at least, if she made the first move and showed that she actually _wanted_ to be friends with someone."

Alexis must have noticed the way my eyes had slanted towards the door, for she followed up with, "Yeah…she isn't exactly acting sociable, which is probably why most of the students are avoiding her."

Syrus tried to give her some defense. "Well, if she was picked on a lot, then it makes sense she's hesitant about trying to get any friends…"

"True," Alexis countered, "but there's a difference between hesitant and passively hostile. Unfortunately, I'm not sure Verity knows she's using the second option."

I watched the shadow ear. It had bounced up and down a few times, clearly showing that she was feeling a couple of different emotions, both positive and negative. Which way was she going to jump?


End file.
